14 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Dec 4)

Le Champion swaps his List for a Lexicon as AEW tries to rebound from Thanksgiving.

Chris Jericho Lexicon
AEW

AEW's Thanksgiving ratings collapse made this the most important episode of Dynamite since its 2 October launch.

663,000 viewers for a show marketed around a World Championship match, Kenny Omega vs. PAC, and Cody's return wasn't good. At all. It stunk, in fact, and that NXT came so close to matching AEW's flagship in demographics Dynamite had previously dominated was particularly worrying, despite the usual holiday-related caveats. It was one of the year's biggest bar nights in the United States, after all.

So the biggest questions heading into this show didn't revolve around the advertised Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela and Young Bucks/Dustin Rhodes vs. Inner Circle bouts, but how AEW would respond. Would they trust their own process and continue unabated, or hit the panic button, make swooping changes, and take big risks to recapture the lost viewers?

The answer? The former, mostly. There was a conscious effort to develop new stars throughout the night (from Jungle Boy to Kris Statlander), but this was still AEW doing AEW. It was also one of their strongest weekly offerings to date, with the promotion putting faith in their core product to rebound as it did after the World Series dip, though only the numbers will tell if they made the right decision.

Let's light the fuse...

Advertisement
Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.